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The lesson of Charles Ives insurance man turned composer

Before Charles Ives was world-famous composer, he was a successful insurance man. His firm, Ives and Myrick, was one of the largest and most profitable in the United States decades before his music received any recognition beyond "awful."

This weekend, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is celebrating Ives as part of their Beyond the Score series that takes audiences on a "dramatic exploration of a composer's music," illuminating the historical context in which the work was created.